For me, the most interesting part of AMD's Analyst Day this morning was the discussion of the next generation of Fusion processors.

Rick Bergman, Senior Vice president and general manager for the company's product group, said the upcoming Fusion processor, which will have both CPU and GPU features on a single die, will have about 1 billion transistors on a single 32nm processor. For comparison, he said that the current Phenom II uses 758 million transistors on a 45nm process; while the 5000 series GPU has 2.15 billion transistors on a 40nm processor.

The first Fusion processor, which will be known as Llano, is due out in 2011 and will include support for Direct X 11; it will be known as an "accelerated processing unit," or APU. The company is working on new processor cores known as "Bulldozer" for the high-end and on "Bobcat" for the low end.

Bergman said the company's basic roadmaps have not changed over the past year, but that a lot of work has gone into the proudcts, which he kept saying were "ahead of schedule."

On the server side, next year the company will be rolling out its "Maranello" platform on the Operton 6000 series, with 8- and-12 core "Magny-Cours" processors for 2 and 4 socket servers; along with the "San Marino" platform with 4 and 6 core "Lisbon" processors, which will have sub-6-watt cores. He said these were ahead of schedule and would launch in the first half of next year.

In 2011, the Operton 6000 series will get the "Interlagos" 12 and 16 core processors based on the "Bulldozer" core, while the Opteron 400 series will get the "Valencia" 6 and 8 core processors.

As for notebooks, the "Danube" platform will launch in the first half of next year, bringing 45nm quad-core products, along with DirectCompute and OpenCL application acceleration and mobile discrete graphics with DX 11 support. For ultrathins, the company will be introducing "Nile" platform with a 45nm dual-core processor (called "Geneva") designed for thin notebooks.

In 2011, the company plans what it is now calling the 'Sabine" platform with its "Llano" accelerated processing unit, with 4 CPU cores, based on the existing "Stars" core. And it will introduce the "Brazos" platform, with the "Ontario" APU using the new "Bobcat" core, along with a Direct X 11 GPU.

For enthusiast desktops, the company will be introducing replacing its current "Dragon" platform with the "Leo" platform in the first half of next year, and introducing the Thuban CPU, which will support up to 6 CPU cores. (Think of it as a desktop version of the company's 6-core Istanbul chip.) On the more mainstream end, the platform is known as "Dorado"

In 2011, the enthusiast platform will be replaced with the "Scorpius" platform with Zambezi processor in 2011, based on the "Bulldozer core," while the mainstream category will get the "Lynx" platform with the Llano processor (also used in the mobile line.)

In graphics, Bergman said, the company will have introduced 5 GPUS within six months, starting with the HD 5000 series, which the company announced in September. He showed off "Hemlock," essentially a dual-GPU version of the HD 5000 series, which he said should be out shortly. Bergman emphasized that the company had clear leadership in Direct X 11 and 40nm technology (as they have shipped this, while Nvidia hasn't) and said it was planning mobile versions for next year.

Michael J. Miller's Forward Thinking Blog: forwardthinking.pcmag.com
Michael J. Miller is chief information officer at Ziff Brothers Investments, a private investment firm. From 1991 to 2005, Miller was editor-in-chief of PC Magazine, responsible for the editorial direction, quality, and presentation of the world's largest computer publication.
No investment advice is offered in this blog. All duties are disclaimed. Miller works separately for a private investment firm which may at any time invest in companies whose products are discussed in this blog, and no disclosure of securities transactions...
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